HADDEN, ALEXANDER

HADDEN, ALEXANDER (2 July 1850-22 Apr. 1926), Cuyahoga County probate judge, was born in Wheeling, (W.) Va., to Alexander and Mary Eliza Welch Hadden and the family moved to EUCLID in 1857. Hadden graduated from Oberlin College in 1873 and began studying law. He was admitted to the bar in Oct. 1875 and practiced law until Feb. 1882, when he was appointed Cuyahoga County assistant prosecuting attorney. He was elected prosecuting attorney in 1884 and held the position until 1893. Gov. MYRON T. HERRICK appointed Hadden judge of the Probate Court of Cuyahoga County in 1905, an office he held continuously until his death. Hadden had practiced law with CARL D. FRIEBOLIN and Jas. H. Griswold, but in 1902 formed a partnership with Frank N. Wilcox—Wilcox, Collister, Hadden, & Parks—principally representing a syndicate promoting development of interurban electric lines. Hadden taught the science and theory of criminal law at the Franklin Thomas Backus School of Law at Western Reserve University from 1894 until his death. He was regarded for the clarity of his written judicial opinions and for an essay published for the PHILOSOPHICAL CLUB OF CLEVELAND in 1918: "Why Are There No Common Law Crimes in Ohio?" During his tenure on the probate bench, Hadden was particularly concern for the insane, who were the responsibility of the court, and argued for advanced modes of treatment and expanded treatment facilities. Hadden married Frances Hawthorne on 17 July 1883 and had 2 children, Alice (1884) and JOHN A. (1886).